About 51 percent of all births in the U.S. are boys. Expecting a little man has its blessings and could bring gender specific symptoms your way. While being gender neutral is the way to go for some moms, knowing all that you can about your little boy during pregnancy will help prepare you for what to expect in the future. Here are four things you should know if you're having a baby boy.
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1. Weight gain during pregnancy is good: Moms expecting baby boys tend to gain more weight compared with women carrying female pregnancies. Kristen J. Navara, an endocrinologist at the University of Georgia, found that an average of moms pregnant with baby boys gained between 40 to 60 pounds during pregnancy. The study examined over 50 million women in the course of over two decades. Part of the reason why baby boys result in more weight gain is because male fetuses have a higher metabolic rate. So make sure to chow down!
2. They have great spatial skills: Studies have found that boys are particularly good at problem solving and figuring out the "relationship between objects." Boys at three to five months can already visualize how a toy or object will look like once it has been rotated. Girls also have this skill, but baby boys have proven to be innately more advanced in the beginning months.
3. They don't have more of a leg up on walking: While some claims point to baby boys being better at taking their first steps quicker than girls, research has found that there's no direct correlation between the speed of learning how to walk and gender. Baby boys and baby girls start learning how to walk between nine and 16 months of age, so don't be fooled by the myths.
4. They'll have to work on vocabulary: Studies have found that baby girls pick up quicker on vocabulary than baby boys. British researchers discovered that baby girls between the ages of 18 to 24 months had a significantly better vocabulary range than boys. A lot of this has to do with the environment the baby is in so make sure to read and speak to your baby boy as much as possible.
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